We are all Copts

May 31, 2017

Early on May 26, gunmen dressed in military fatigues stopped a convoy of three vehicles filled with Christian Coptic pilgrims, removed the passengers and perpetrated a massacre. Hours later, the Egyptian government carried out air strikes on several Islamist camps in eastern Libya, purportedly in response to the killings. In response to this new round of violence, the Revolutionary Socialists of Egypt released the following statement, first published in English at the group's website.

Family and friends mourn the victims of a deadly attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt

THE REVOLUTIONARY Socialists condemn the latest sectarian massacre in Minya in which 28 people were killed, including many children.

We see new victims, whose only crime was that they belonged to the Christian religion, executioners with the most reactionary ideas, and security services whose only concern is the safety of the dictator.

The scattered bodies of children bear witness to the tragedy that the Egyptian people are living through, confronted with terrorists on the one hand and tyrants on the other.

Naturally, the dictator will respond to the massacre with more terror and repression against his political opponents. He aims to further his plan of breaking the political forces to award himself a new presidential term, thus perpetuating conditions under which many more will turn to violence and terrorism.

We believe that this criminal attack at the hand of a murderous force that is the enemy of both revolution and humanity should propel political forces to propose a new progressive and democratic project that would be on the side of the popular masses, be they Christian or Muslim, in order to end this nightmare.

We join our voices to all those calling for the dismissal of the interior minister and the repeal of the emergency laws and the opening of the public sphere; it is only then that it will be possible to contain Daeshi terrorism [Daesh is the acronym in Arabic for the Islamic State--ed.].

We are sure to stand side by side with the Copts who have become a target for the criminal Daeshis, and we call on the social and political forces to express humanitarian and political solidarity with them. Today we must raise the slogan: "We are all Copts."